Nowadays fossil fuels, such as gas, oil and coal are largely used for producing electrical or heat energy, for burning away waste or for converting or purifying substances, in particular ore. Due to an increasing demand of electrical energy and the concurrent pullout from running nuclear power plants in countries such as Germany and Japan, coal has gained an increased attraction, since it is also present in industrial countries themselves.
In China each year coal fired power stations with a forecast capacity of about 70 GW are constructed. In Germany about half of the electrical energy is produced by burning coal, with its share in the electrical energy production increasing due to the planned exit from using nuclear energy.